President Obama has introduced a total of 442 new tax increase proposals since he took office in 2009, a watchdog group reported.
Moreover, those 442 tax proposals are different than the 20 that are contained in Obamacare legislation that was signed into law, Americans for Tax Reform reported.
“History tells us what Obama was able to do,” said ATR presider Grover Norquist in a written statement. “This list reminds us of what Obama wanted to do.”
Broken down by year, Mr. Obama asked for 79 tax increases for fiscal 2010; 52 in fiscal 2011; 47, then 34, for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, respectively; and 127 in fiscal 2014, ATR found. He also sought another 93 for fiscal 2015.
And as ATR pointed out: The years with the fewest tax hike requests coincide with election years.
Among the tax hikes Mr. Obama wanted were reinstatements of superfund excise taxes and superfund environmental income taxes in 2010; something called a financial crisis responsibility fee in 2011; the designation of growth zones and accompanying tax and fee structures in 2012; and the repeal or elimination of several tax benefits for various oil, gas and energy drilling endeavors in 2014.
“Presidents are judged by history based on what they did in power,” Mr. Norquist said in his statement. “But presidents can only enact laws when the Congress agrees. Thus a record forged by such compromise tells you what a president, limited by Congress, did rather than what he wanted to do.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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